Sharing stories, building connections

Indigenous Plants in the City

Ferns taking root in the sides of buildings, mullein populating abandoned industrial sites, salmonberries taking over those in between spaces of the alley. Traditional healing plants are everywhere. To most people, these urban sproutings are weeds–rogue plants breaking through the carefully managed surfaces and spaces of the city. But when you learn how those plants have fed, clothed and healed people, you might begin to see them as the good medicine they are. They remind us that we are in an ecosystem–even in the city–and the earth always takes care of us. They alert us to the indigenous roots of our urban habitats. If we pay attention, we learn that we are not alone in an alienating urban environment. Cease Wyss, a good friend of mine who inspires me with her wealth of plant knowledge and good medicine, took me on many walks throughout the city to see that those little plants creeping out of the sidewalks are not weeds, but our Grandmothers, the second oldest beings on the planet, there to take care of us and offer strength. Please watch the film at: